I feel like I’m always starting off my
reviews with something I’ve said before, but here it is again: I’m an extremely
picky reader. If a cover looks weird,
I’m out. If the model on the cover isn’t
attractive, I’m out. If there’s even one
word on the back cover that turns me off, I’m out. Back on the shelf it goes. It’s a horrible way to go through life,
really, but there are so many books out there to read I simply cannot waste
time reading a book that isn’t going to end in me weeping from joy on the floor
of my living room. I just can’t.
On the bright side, I’m incredibly loyal to
the authors that I love. If I like one of an author’s books then I’m buying
them all. Doesn’t even matter if I don’t
like all of them. Doesn’t matter if
there’s three hundred previous books (looking at you Susan Elizabeth
Phillips). Eventually, I’m going to have
those books lining my shelves.
The first book I ever read of Mrs. Julie Ann
Walker’s came from the damaged bin at the bookstore where I work. Damages happen, books become casualties of
kids with sticky hands and people not knowing how bookshelves operate. When I found a romance novel in the bin I
knew that I couldn’t leave it there to become pulp. I needed to take it home and give it a place
to live out its bookstore retirement in peace.
From there I was addicted. I
snatched up every copy of Mrs. Walker’s books that found their way to our
shelves and moved them home to join their brother in my shelves.
If you don’t read Mrs. Walker’s Black
Knights Inc. series, or if you do but you somehow managed to avoid reading about Wild Ride, then I’ll give you a brief
rundown: Ozzie is a hot, motorcycle-building, life-saving nerd. He loves 80s
music, Star Trek, and classic movies and always has some quote or quip ready as
a retort. To anyone on the outside
looking in he would appear to be all easy grins and good vibes. But Ozzie is recovering from a job gone bad,
a job that left him with physical scars and some major demons to fight. Enter Samantha Tate, a vivacious
take-no-prisoners reporter with a keen eye and a talent for pissing people off
with her articles. She fell in love with
him at first sight, but he’s kept her at arms-length ever since. She knows he’s got secrets and the reporter
in her can’t stand being in the dark.
When her life is threatened, and Ozzie jumps at the chance to be her
protector, Samantha has to decide where her priorities lie and how far she’s
willing to go, and how many she’s willing to hurt, to uncover the truth.
I was torn about my level of excitement for Wild Ride because I love Ozzie, but I
hated Samantha Tate. I don’t know
whether it was a "hatred for all reporters" type of thing or whether I was
genuinely worried about the Black Knights getting into trouble because she
couldn’t keep her mouth shut. As I read,
however, I learned to appreciate Samantha’s drive for truth and the life
experiences that brought her to be a reporter.
By the end I was like, “Fuck yeah Samantha. You do you.”
As is typical of a Julie Ann Walker novel
you’re going to have a ton of laughs, some mega freak outs, and bear witness to some insane
chemistry between the main characters. I
go from laughing to straight panic attacks like six or seven times throughout
the book. Rapid fire. But the time when my heart is speeding the
fastest is the sexy scenes (wink wink). She
writes with such passion that you fall into those pages and you only pop back
out when you realize you’ve been forgetting to breathe.
Long story short: The sex scenes are intense. The danger is legitimately scary. The plot is magical, as always.
You just can’t go wrong with Julie Ann
Walker and the Black Knights.
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